Stan’s the man for historical nuggets
REPORTER DAVID MEDCALF CAUGHT UP WITH STAN J O’REILLY, STALWART OF THE WICKLOW HISTORICAL SOCIETY. THE RETIRED TEACHER AND UPHOLSTERER TALKED OF PAGANS AND PAGEANTS, LOCAL LEGENDS AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES.
STAN J O’Reilly – a one man blast from the past. The secretary of the Wicklow Historical Society, Stan is Wicklow born and bred, spending half a century gathering nuggets and gems from the heritage of the town, its hinterland and the county in general.
The 61-year-old retired teacher and his colleagues in the society bring a breath of fresh (and sometimes mischievous) air to their subject, though enthusiasm should not be mistaken for lack of academic rigour.
Readers may expect that anything which appears in the Wicklow Historical Society journal is properly researched and nicely presented, a formula which has kept the series of publications coming annually and growing steadily in size since the first edition appeared in the 1980s. The breadth of interests covered is well illustrated by Stan’s contribution to Volume 6, Number 1, which has just issued.
He chips in first with ‘The Wicklow Town Poisoning Case’, the story of the unfortunate death of 22-year-old shop-worker Hannah Cullen and the subsequent trial in 1875 of a man known only in the court reports of the day as Cornelius M. This piece is true tabloid-style looking back, drawn from the coverage which was circulated in local press of the time when the papers were not above sensationalising a story, with Stan keeping his summary of events down to a brief two pages.
Now turn to the last section of the journal for a different kettle of historical fish altogether as Stan delves in depth into ‘Wicklow and District in Antiquity and Folklore’, which runs from page 112 all the way through to page 132. Here, the writer cuts loose at considerable length with a review of the days before there were professional journalists to put their spin on events, a Wicklow of druids, saints and Vikings, of stories passed down by word of mouth.
History, it seems, is a broad church and Stan O’Reilly revels in all aspects of it, always eager to learn more and always keen to share his knowledge.
Though he has now moved out the road to Rathnew, he comes from the Market Square in Wicklow Town. There, despite the inhibiting effects of polio, he played football on the road as a boy, ‘as long as the guards were not around. It was great growing up here.’
From a young age, he took advantage of his home town’s location by the sea, taking a practical interest in sea fishing, bringing home bass, pollock, mackerel and cod for tea, all caught with trusty rod and line. With his mobility affected by the polio, he also became an avid reader in his youth, a very useful discipline for a historian: ‘I could not do sports, so I found other interests.’
He has travelled quite widely but never lived anywhere but here: ‘I look at the world through Wicklow-coloured glasses as a historian and folklorist.’ He was also drawn to amateur drama and became a radio DJ in the days of pirate stations such as WCR, WLCB and Viking 105.
Stan has to admit that he was not at the founding meeting of the Wicklow Historical Society, which took place in 1986 at a time when he was working as an upholsterer. Instead, the pioneers were led by the likes of John Finlay, Jimmy Cleary (RIP) and Jim Rees, who were all involved in mounting a historical exhibition in the town library. The first journal came in 1987 and fresh editions have followed every year since, all concentrating on subjects of local interest.
Meanwhile, Stan was set to undergo a major upheaval as his back began to give way under the strain of the physical nature of his first chosen profession.
He was obliged to leave the upholstery workshop and began to attend the VEC in Bray
IF YOU DON’T LEARN THE LESSONS OF HISTORY YOU ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT THEM. AND HISTORY TELLS WHAT HAS SHAPED OUR TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
where he took German, computer studies, English and, yes, history. The history teacher in ‘The Tech’ at the time was Jenny Derbyshire whom he found an ‘absolute inspiration’.
He moved on from Bray to commute to UCD, where he specialised in English and the inevitable history – two subjects which required an enormous amount of reading. The mature student revelled in all the book learning, happy to be exposed to the classics and an eye-opening course in Japanese history. He graduated with his university degree in 1998 and, after taking work as a substitute teacher, went on to add a formal teaching qualification. This opened the door to posts in Abbey Community College and Coláiste Chill Mhantáin.
The threads of Stan’s twin passions – theatre and history – became entwined in 1998, the bicentenary of the United Irishmen rebellion. Those were cruel times besmirched by arbitrary floggings and hangings in Wicklow Gaol, which has become a major tourist magnet in our more peaceful age. Stan wrote a play commemorating one of the heroes of the revolt, entitled ‘The Last Days of William Billy Byrne of Ballymanus’.
His work was brought to life, not on an indoor stage but across the wider canvass of his home town, in the form of a pageant. The original idea was to write a book, but Anthony Doyle diverted Stan into devising something more theatrical instead. The script drew on information and ideas gleaned from his time spent digging around the National Archive and the National Library, looking for snippets about Wicklow.
The two-and-a-half hour show was performed twice, attracting a total audience of 3,000 people as the action moved around town. Actors and extras togged out as red coats or rebels, with a supporting cast of horses pulling carts.
‘It was great craic,’ he recalls. Five years ago, he had no alternative but to give up teaching in the wake of an accident which left him with a debilitating knee injury. Always one to look on the bright side, Stan reckons this misfortune has at least opened up the way for him to become a full-time historian and folklorist.
He reveals that he has been collecting the folk tales since the 1970s, drawing inspiration from his father, who ran a shop in Market Square. The dad told his young son there was a bishop – maybe Saint Mantan himself ? – buried in the back yard of the family home. Stan was inspired to sneak out with a shovel to investigate but decided in the end not to dig too deep. Some things are better left un-verified.
Some things, like ghostly Hardboard Dilly, said to Haunt Crinnion Park beside the old gaol. An encounter with Dilly is followed by a year of wretched bad luck.
Some things, like Dilly’s unearthly colleague the Phantom White Lady who portends death within three days for anyone who meets her: ‘Better get your affairs in order,’ laughs Stan. He has scores of such tales.
‘There is nowhere in this town that I do not have a story from’ says the folklorist cheerfully.
And at the same time, he remains a serious scholar, systematically scouring the treasure trove of material in the newspaper archive at the public library in Bray. There are plenty of like-minded souls in the historical society, which meets on the second Monday of each month under the chairmanship of John Finlay, with a programme of winter lectures and summer outings.
The O’Reilly clan is amply represented, as the committee line-up not only features Stan J O’Reilly but also includes his brother Tom O’Reilly and wife Natalie. He is pleased to see that the continuing place of history in the secondary school curriculum has been secured.
‘History explains how society operates because society has been shaped by the past. If you don’t learn the lessons of history, then you are doomed to repeat them,’ he counsels. ‘And history tells what has shaped our towns and villages.’
Access to many sources which document the past is easier than ever with the arrival of the internet. For instance, he has long had an interest in the many Irish folk who were transported to the dreaded Van Diemen’s Land, now best known as Tasmania, in Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries.
‘I can’t afford to go to Tasmania but now it is all there for me online,’ he reveals cheerfully, familiar with the newspapers